Disk harrow



July 27, 1943. s. J. MILLER D I SK HARROW Filed Jan. 20, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

July 27, 1943. s. J. MILLER DISK HARROW Filed Jan. 20, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. I VMQWMMO July 27, 1943. 5 J 2,325,337

DISK HARROW Filed Jan. 20, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

Patented July 27, 1943 e N [Tie- 55 T- rice seesaw .ibhilsteh nine, cats Christi, Tex.

mammalian 20, 194,2, Serial No. 427,398 In Canada, December 5, 1940 V tor. 55- 73) '16 claims.

i This invention-relates to lmproivenrents disk harrows and is particularly directed to the com struction of a disk harrow. which has superior advantages in simplicity of construction, and durability and general .enicien'cy in operation.

A problem in the operation of disk harrows is that it is diflicult to design the disk unit so that it may be drawn by a tractor or horses in a straight line, regardless .of .the contour of the land and soil conditions.

A further difficulty is that disk ,harrow units, in operation, have a heavy side thrust which places a constant strain on the frame or frames whiohcarry the diskunits. 1-

In myUnited States Patent No. 2,191,537, issued February 27th, 1940, .I vdiscloseda multiple by the disk ,units, only thedisk units encountering the obstruction areraised in passing over it, andsubjected to the strain caused by this move ment,v Likewise, when one of the disk wheels, whichlabsorb the thrust ,of the disk units, encounters an obstruction,v only 1 the wheel encountering the obstruction .israised and no strain unit disk harrow wherein a number-of, disk units 1 are hingedly attached to the main frame in' such a manner that each unit istjheld firmlyflin fixed position insofar as horizontal andve'rtical' angularity, tillage depth, and side-swayare concerned. Through the hinged connection of. each disk unit to the main frame, each unitis. freeto rise over any obstruction, such as rocks,.independent- IV of the other ,units,irelieving the. full; weight of the. harrow from the.contacted.,.disk,.;thereby avoiding the possibility of damage to the disks, and alignment ofthe frame.

One of the principal objects..ofwtheapresent invention is toprovida an arrangementtloflparts in a disk harrow 'whichtransmitsthe heavy side thrust of the disk units,to .the disk. wheels which support the frames carrying thediskunits. In

the preferred embodimentof my inventionhereinafter described. this isac'complishedmy providing the harrow withadisk-wheels, preferably either two orthree innumber', at,-least;one ofwhich is located ononesideof the harrowand the. other on "the opposite 'sideQJIhedisk wheels t are mounted on a frame which is connected to the frame carrying, the disk unitssuclr a man ner that .the side thrust of. the diskunits under operating conditions: isutransmittedqto the disk wheels, thereby counteracting the ordinary side thrust found. inordinary d-isl e harrows I is transmitted to the remainder of .the machine. A furtherfeature ofthe present invention is that the front wheel, orfront wheels, is mounted so t at it is free ,totbe turned in a horizontal plane, which-form; of mounting overcomes the difiicultyyheretofore encountered when the front wheel ,was not free to turn. ,In suchmachines, it was necessary] that the tractor, ,or other form of motivepower, had t'ohe locatedat a fixed. point inrelation to the line of draft, whereas by using the above-mentionedlsteering, arrangement, that is, with theiront wheel; or wheels, free to turn in a horizontal plane, ,a particular location of the draft means relative to the line'of draft is not required. i l- Y Other and furtherfeatures' of my invention will be apparent, from Tthe following description and the accompanying drawings,;in which v Figure 1 is a topplan View of a. disk harrow constructed in accordance with my invention; Figure; is a fragmentary view, partly in perspective, of the front transverse member shown inFigure1'; H

Figure 3 is a ton plan view of the frame of the disk harrow with the disk units removed;

Figure 4 is aside elevation of Figure 3; I Figure 5. isa detail viewbf-one; of the front wheels showing the manner in which it is mounted ,on the front 'transversemember r Figure 6 is a detail view showing the mounting of the disk gang units; i

Figure '7 is a front elevation ofcne of the disk eaneu s i v ,Likel reference characters refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings. 1 1 The disk'vharrow illustrated in the drawings A feature ofthepresent invention-resides in v the construction" andf..jinteroonnectiong of the frames which carry thefdiskwheels. and disk units so that each frame and. each disk unit ismovable in a vertical plane. independently, efjtheuother frames and theother disk unitaand; afithesame time, the side thrust of the jdiskfunits istranse.

mitted to the disk wheels previously mentioned;

One. advantage of .such ail construction 1's that when an obstruction is encountered, for example,

is pivotallyconnected to the: main frame to permit movement-in a vertical; plane of the disk units which are carried by thesecono. frame, and a third frame which is oivotallyiconnected to the it main frameand to the ,disk unit frame. The

third mentioned frame extends to the rear of the disk unit frameandds, supported on a-disk wheel. In the modification of invention illustrated inFigures 1- through' 7', the main frame comprisesa transverse member- 19 ,Whichissupp t d by a pair:- of disk wheels H-IZ. Each.

wheel l|-l2 is rotatably mounted on an axle whichis journalled in a channel iron l3. Each channel iron I3 is provided at its upper and lower ends with L-shaped brackets l4-l5 respectively. The bracket M is pivotally secured to the member ID by means of bolt l6, and the bracket 15 is pivotally connected to the lower end of brace H by means of bolt I8. The upper end of brace I1 is securely attached to the underside of the member l0. A steering arm I9 is securely attached to each channel iron 13. One

end of the draw bar 20 is pivotally connected to the member ID. The steering arms l9 are connected to the draw bar 20 by means of the links 2!. It will thus be seen that the wheels may be formed by the frame members Gil- H and cross steered by means of the draw bar to follow the direction taken by the tractor.

The transverse bar I0 is braced by means of two bars 22-43 which extend diagonally forwardly from the member In. Each of the bars 2223 have one end connected to the member is by means of plates 24-45, respectively. The plates 2 l'25 are located at and'secured'to the member Ill adjacent the'wheels l l l2, respec' tively. The forwardendsof the bars 22231are connected t'ogetherby means of a cross bar 25.

The frames carrying the disk units include the'rearwardly extending spaced apart members 2'i-2ll29.30. The forward end of.,each of these members is hingedly secured towthe memoer Iii. Themembers 21-2829 3U are'cone nected together towards their rearward ends ,by

' means of the cross bar 3|. The ends of the mem bers '2!2 53. extend rearwardly beyond tlie cross bar 3! and are connected together by the cross bar 32 one end of which is joined '"to the cross bar 3!. The ends of themembers 2 ll-ll extend rearwardly beyondv the cross bar El and are connected together" by a cross bar 33. y The two platforms formed by this construction, one at the rear of bars 2'l28 and the'other at the rear of bars'29-3fl,-may be utilized'for carrying weights to adjust the depth to which the disk units penetr'ateintothe soil. 1 I I A brace rod 34 extends diagonallfbe'neath the frame carrying'the disk unitsand has one end connected to the frame member 2? at or near the point where the cross member is attached to that frame member. The other-end of the brace rod 34 is connected to the brace I! which supports the channel iron l3,to which wheel H is attached. I

The tail frame comprises ,a rearwardly extending member 35 which has one end pivotally connected to the member I!) at or near the pivot point of the member 2 9 and is bent tolpass over the disk unit frame so as to avoid interference with the vertical movement of that frame.

The frame member 35 extends beyond the rear end of the members 29-30 and is connected to the cross member 32 adjacent to the frame member 21' by means of bolts 31 which allow the,

frame member to move vertically *on its. pivot.

Brace rod 36 hasone end pivotally connected to the member 32 adjacent to'the frame member 21 and the other end is connected to the channel member 44 at a-point where axle of wheel 45 contacts channel member 44. The brace rods 34-35 act together to transmit the 'side thrust of the disk units 47-48 to the disk wheels H|245.

The cross frame member 38 extends diagonally disk blades.

members 42-t3 can be loaded, such as by heavy stones, to cause the penetration of the wheel 45 to the required depth into the soil.

The disk harrow illustrated in Figures 1 through 7 of the drawings is provided with two disk units 41-48, each of which is preferably constructed in the manner illustrated in Figure 7. Referring to Figure 7, each disk unit includes a plurality of disk blades 16 which are carried on a shaft rotating in bearings 5%. The bearings 59 are carried by the barsbz, the upper ends of. which are connected to the beam El. The beam 5! is provided at one end with a bar 53 which extends outwardly and downwardly to a point in line with the center of the end disk blade. The lower end of the bar 53 is provided with a member 54 which passes through a hole in the centre of theend disk blade to engage against a thrust jbearinglocated between the two end Each of the disk units 41,, l8 is provided with a pivot 55 and ispivotally attached to theframe member 3| in such amanner that the disk units may be turned angularly to the line of draft.

The diskunit 41 is pivoted to the frame members 3i and 21 at the point where those members are joined'together, and the disk 'un'it lB is pivoted to the "frame members 29-34, where those members are joined together. i

The disk harrow isalso provided with an arrangement for adjusting the angle of each disk unit with respect to the line of draft. The angle of the disk unit 41 is. adjusted by means of a lever 55jwhich is mounted onjtheframe member 28 in front of the disk. The lever56 is connected to the disk unit 4'! by means of a connecting rod 51. The disk unit 48 is adjusted by a similar arrangement whichincludesa lever 58 mounted onthe' frame member 3!! in front of the disk unit 48. The'lever 58 is connected to the disk 48 by a connecting rod .59. I n

It is found in operation that the unit All on the right side of the frame tends to sink too deeply into the soil and, therefore, provision is made to maintain this unit at a predetermined depth in thesoil. The arrangement of parts by means of which this is effected includes a lever 60 having a chain 6l,'one end of which is connected to an arm of the lever and the other end is connected tothe diskunit." The lever Ellis mounted on the frame member '38, preferably near the pivot 55 of the disk unit 41.

The side'thrust of the disk harrow is taken up through the member 54 and transmitted through across the disk narrow and has one end slidably connected to the frame member 35 at 'a point immediately above member 33. The other end of the member. 53 to' the beam 5!. Thence from the beam Bl the thrust is transmitted through the pivot 55 tof the cross member 3! to the bar 36 and to the channel member 44. The last member, channel member 44, distributes through members M at the side thrust evenly to the disk wheels H- -|2'-l5.

Tthas been'foundtha the hinged construction:

of the frames permits the vertical movement of each disk unit independently of the remainder of the units, thereby making it possible for a unit to pass over an obstruction without interfering with the operation of the remainder of the units.

Furthermore, th present construction transmits the thrust to the disk wheels thereby permitting the disk harrow to be drawn in a straight line independently of the contour of the land, the soil conditions, or the point of depth. The steering arrangement, of course, permits flexibility in changing direction which ordinarily is not present in disk harrows which, due to the tendency of swinging sideways on encountering obstructions or difficult soil conditions, must be held in fixed relationship with the motive power.

It will be clearly understood, of course, that modifications may be made to the specific embodiment of the invention described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the invention as claims.

I claim:

l. A disk harrow comprising a main frame, a second frame extending to the rear of said main frame and hingedly attached thereto for movement in a vertical plane independently of said main frame, disk units pivoted, on vertical axes, to the second frame, disk wheels supporting said main frame, and meansfor transmitting defined in the appended the side thrust of said disk units to said disk Wheels.

2. A disk harrow comprising a main frame which includes a front axle, a second frame extending to the rear of said main frame and connected thereto for movement in a vertical plane independently of said main frame, a disk unit attached to said second frame, said disk unit being adjustable in a horizontal plane, disk Wheels on the axle and second frame for supporting said frames, and means for transmitting the side thrust of said disk units to said disk wheels.

v3. A disk harrow comprising a main frame, at least one wheel supporting said frame, and a second frame hingedly attached to said main frame for movement in a vertical plane independently of said main frame, disk unitsmounted to pivot on the second frame, means cooperating with said supporting wheel for transmitting the side thrust of said disk units to said supporting wheel, said second frame extending to the rear of said main frame, and a disk Wheel supporting said second frame, and positioned to the rear of said disk units.

4. A disk harrow comprising-a-main frame, wheels supporting said frame, a sec-0nd frame hingedly connected to the main frame for ver tical movement, disk units mounted to pivot on vertical axes on the second frame, means cooperating with said supporting wheels for trans mitting the side thrust of said disk units to said supporting wheels, said second frame extending to the rear of said main frame, and a disk wheel supporting said second frame, .and positioned to the rear of said disk units.

5. A disk harrow comprising a main frame, a disk gang frame hingedly attached to said main frame for movement in a vertical plane inde-' pendently of said main frame, disk units carried by said disk frame, disk wheels supporting said main frame, and means cooperatingwith said wheels for transmitting the side thrust ofsaid disk units to said disk wheels, and a tail frame side thrust of said disk units to said supporting 7 disk wheels, and means for steering said supporting disk wheels, said second frame extending to the rear of said main frame, and a disk wheel supporting said second frame and positioned to the rear of said disk units.

'7. A disk harrow having in combination a transverse member, a draw bar connected to said member, wheels supporting said member, and means for steering said wheels including a connectingrod extending from said draw bar to each of said Wheels whereby turning movement in a horizontal plane is imparted to said wheels, a disk frame hingedly attached to said transverse member for movement in a vertical plane independently of said transverse member, a second fram extending to the rear of said disk frame, and hingedly attached to said first mentioned frame and to said transverse member for movement in a vertical'plane independently of said transverse member and said frame, and a disk wheel supporting the rear end of said second frame. 7

8. A disk harrow comprising a main frame, a disk gang frame connected to the main frame for movement in a vertical plane independently of the main frame, disk units pivoted on vertical axes on the disk gang frame, disk Wheels supporting the main frame, means cooperating with said wheels for transmitting the side thrust of.

the disk units to the disk wheels, a tail frame connected to the harrow structure for movement in a vertical plane independently of the aforesaid frames, said tail frame extending to the rear of said disk gang frame and a disk wheel supporting said tail frame and positioned to the rear of the disk units.

9. A disk harrow having in combination a transverse member, a drawbar connected to said member, wheels supporting said member, means for steering said wheels including a connecting rod extending from the drawbar and connected to each of said wheels whereby turning movement in a horizontal plane is imparted to said wheels, a disk frame connected to said transverse member for vertical movement relative thereto, a second frame extending to the rear of the disk frame and connected to the disk frame and to the transverse member for vertical movement and a disk wheel supporting the rear end of said second frame.

10. A disk harrow, comprising a main frame, wheels supportingsaid frame, a second frame pivoted for vertical movement at its forward end, to the main frame, disk units pivoted on vertical axes to the second frame, a tail frame pivoted,

SAMUEL JOHNSTON MILLER. 

